Blues/Transcript
Transcript Onscreen text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim & Moby Tim is playing a few notes on an acoustic guitar in a field near a road by Moby standing next to him. Behind them, a road sign reads "Mexico City, 25 kilometers." TIM: I can't believe that guy still hasn't shown up. He was supposed to teach me how to play the blues. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well I don't want to learn from a book, I want to learn from this dude. Moby picks up an electric guitar and plays a rock music style blues line. TIM: Wait, you know the blues? Then, why'd you let me come out here and sit around for so long? Fingers tap on Tim's shoulders and then a mail carrier comes into view, holding a letter. Tim reads from the typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, What is the blues? Where did it come from? From McKinley. Well McKinley, the blues is one of the oldest forms of American music. An image shows an African-American slave couple on a stage with the woman holding their baby. They are frowning as white men sit looking at them. One man has his arm raised to bid on the slaves. TIM: It started in the south, way back during the days of slavery. MOBY: Beep. An image shows two slaves working in a field. TIM: Well back then, the south was dominated by huge farms called plantations. They grew crops like cotton and tobacco, and all the field labor was done by African-American slaves. MOBY: Beep. TIM: No, it definitely wasn't nice, like, at all. Slaves led very difficult lives. An image of slaves shows them smiling. There are speech bubbles with religious symbols and images of workers using tools. TIM: To ease the pain, they often sang about the hardships that they faced. Sometimes they sang spirituals, religious songs that looked to faith as a means of escaping from slavery. And sometimes they sang work songs, rhythmic songs that helped relieve the boredom and stress of working in the fields. An image shows a map of West Africa. TIM: In the beginning, this music drew heavily on the music of West Africa, where most of the slaves had been taken from. But gradually, it blended together with other American musical forms. And sometime between 1870 and 1900, the blues as we know it was born. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, the most traditional form of blues is known as country blues. An image shows a man singing while playing a guitar. A speech bubble with an eye and a tear drop appears. TIM: It usually consists of a solo performer, singing and accompanying themself on acoustic guitar, harmonica, or another simple instrument. The lyrics are usually about some kind of hardship or emotional pain the singer is suffering through. The speech bubble changes to a broken heart, a bucket full of dirt, and Moby's face. TIM: It could be about anything, a love affair that's gone wrong, the hard work you have to do, or even a robot that won't stop bugging you. An animation shows a floating blue-colored musical note. TIM: The music usually features bent or flattened musical notes that are sometimes called blue notes. An image shows three lines of blues sheet music. TIM: And it usually follows a distinct pattern called the 12-bar blues. MOBY: Beep. An animation shows each bar being highlighted. TIM: Well, music is divided into rhythmic units called measures, or bars. 12-bar blues is a 12-measure long sequence of words and music that repeats itself over and over. A typical 12-bar blues song is like a three-line poem. Each is made up of exactly four measures. The first four establish the theme of the song like, "Oh I got myself a robot; he's always messin' with my head." The lyrics Tim sang appear under the first line of the blues sheet music. TIM: The second line is almost exactly the same as the first. "I said I got myself a robot, always messin' with my head." The same image now shows the words Tim sang appear below the second line of the song. TIM: In the third section, the chords change dramatically, and the words are totally different too. They usually are a response to the words from the first two sections. It's like the first two lines set everything up, and the last line is like a punch line or a twist ending. The same image highlights the last line. TIM: "Sometimes I wanna get rid of that robot; and get me a kitty cat instead." Moby frowns. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Oh, come on Moby. That's just, that's just the 12-bar blues. The last line of the song Tim sang appears below the third line of the blues sheet music. TIM: Most blues songs keep repeating that same musical pattern but just add different words. Of course, that's a simplified version of the blues. An image shows a bass player, guitar player, and drums. TIM: The best blues musicians are masters of improvisation. That means they make up variations on the song while they play. The 12-bar blues sheet music is shown with changes to some of the chords and letter names. TIM: They start out with this basic form, but they change it and add to it until it's something that's entirely their own. MOBY: Beep. An image shows a map of the United States with the southern area circled. TIM: Well, the blues became popular during the first part of the twentieth century, especially in the American south. The map shows all of the states labeled. It zooms in on Tennessee and shows the city of Memphis and Beale Street. TIM: As it spread across the country, different regions developed their own distinct blues styles. Beale Street, in Memphis, Tennessee, housed a lot of clubs, bars, and restaurants owned by African-Americans. An image shows B.B. King. TIM: Famed bluesman B.B. King started there. An image shows Memphis Minnie and Sleepy John Estes. TIM: And blues legends like Memphis Minnie and Sleepy John Estes would gather there to learn from one another and develop the classic Memphis blues. The image of the map with the states labeled shows Chicago, Illinois, then four instruments pop up. TIM: Chicago blues is usually played with a full band including electric guitars, bass, drums, even saxophones. Images of Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and Howlin' Wolf are shown. TIM: This style is perfected by artists like Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and Howlin' Wolf. Tim and Moby are once again standing on the side of the road in front of the Mexico City sign. Moby has an electric guitar. TIM: And the blues are still around today. Every big city has at least one blues club, and you can hear the blues influence in just about every style of rock music. Moby plays a rock blues melody on the electric guitar. TIM: Hey, who taught you the blues anyway? MOBY: Beep. TIM: What! You can't buy the blues. MOBY: Beep. Moby's ear flips up and a card slides out of his head that reads "plug-n-play Blues Card" with a musical note on it. TIM: Oh. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts